Railroad-car heater



UNITED' STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. S. MCNEIL Anno.` S, oADwELL, JR., or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAiLRoAD-CAR HEATERJ.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 81,392, dated August 25, 1868.

To all whom fit lmay concern: 1

Be it known that we, W. S. MCNEIL and O. S. GADWELL, J r., of Springfield, -in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a newand Improved Car Heater; and we do hereby declare that the following lis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to so construct a heater for heating or warming railroad-cars by heated air that the air shall be purified before it is heated and discharged into the car, andproperly-distributed therein, and so that fuel ,shall be economized, and proper provision made for protecting the passen gers and car from injury from fire in case of accident, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Figure l represents a sectional longitudinal elevation of the heater connected with a car, showing the construction and arrangement of the parts, the section being through the line w w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional top view, the section being through a a of Fig-1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section-through y y of Fig. 1.

Fig. et is a horizontal section through e z of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the car under the seats, or in any other desired' or convenient position. l

The perforations a may increase in diameter from the heater to the end of the pipe, and they may be made in groups, and provided with dampers for regulating the discharge of the heated air, if desired.

G represents the iioor of the car. Beneath the fire-box A, through the oor of the car,

there is a trap-door, g, so arrangedthat the ashes may be dumped onto lthe track, and so that by reversing the grate h thewhole con.

tents of the furnace may be dropped in the same manner. The air for supplying the fuel .passes through the orifice t'. H is the outside casing, which surrounds the fire-box and the hot-air and combustion chambers, thus forming van annular air-chamber, I, into which cold air enters from the pipes i from the outside or bottom of the car. Y

The air which thus enters the chamber I is exposed to the heat-radiating surface of the combustion-chamber D, and is discharged into the car through registers or orifices. (Seen in the drawing.)V

J is an annular hot-air chamber, which is surrounded by the combustionchamber I). For the purpose of utilizing the heat immediately above the fire-box and from-the combustion-chamber, I form this second hot-airchamber, and connect it with the air-chamber E by the pipe K, and discharge the heated air therefrom through the pipe L. A This pipe L passes into the main perforated discharge-pipe F, through the outer air-chamber I at m, from whence it passes through the discharge-pipe F, as seen in the drawing, thereby increasing the temperature of the air in that pipe by radiating its heat; but, as seen in the drawing, it is passed from the pipe F at n, and dropped down with a hood ou its end, as seen at o, for

the purpose of creating a draft through the same and warming the cars when standin g still.

P is a double funnel, the parts of which, It and S, are'connected together by a valve-section, g. T T' are two valves hinged in q, as seen in the drawing. a u are wire arms on the valves.

A current of air passing into the funnel S will close the valve T, and force T back against the side of q. The funnel R being thus closed, the air Will be forced down through the apertures V into the air-tube W. Shouldv the current of air enter the funnel It, the position of the valves will be reversed. T' will be closed and T opened by the yforce of the current, as before. The valves thus operate automatically, and thus accommodate themselves to the direction of the car or the prevailing current of air.

x is the air-purifying chamber, withk a perforated bottom, y. z is a Water-tank. a. is a Waste-pipe for the tank z. c is a tube through which Water is introduced into the tank.

There may be more or less partitions or deflecting-aprons in the chamber w, for retarding the air which enters from the pipe W. These aprons, partitions, or deiiectors, and the interior Walls of the chamber are covered with ilannel or felting, or with some other porous, fibrous, or absorbent material, as indicated in the drawing.

The Water-tank z being iilled or partially filled With water, the motion of the car Will so agitate it that the Water will be splashed up through the perforated bottom and saturate the lining. The air Will come in contact With this lining, and with the Water and vapor in chamber w, and lining thereof, and the dust, cinders, &c., will be separated from the air, and will find their Way into the Water-tank, Where they sink to the bottom. The air, before it enters the heating-chamber, Will be thus purified and rendered t for respiration before being discharged into the car.

d represents a screen, through which the air passes on its Way from the purifying-chamber and to the hot-air chamber. e represents the smoke-pipe.

The motion of the car, either forward or back, will force a current down the air-pipe W, through the hot-air chambers, and into the car, which, being separated from its impurities on the Way, will furnish the car with a constant supply of fresh Warm air, so' that the windows may be closed, and that great source of colds, discomfort, and danger be avoided. The top of the fire-box is protected by grating, as seen on plate 4, at f.

It will be seen that should the car be upset, or in case of any other accident, the fuel and coals could not escape from the fire-box,

as the -re-door Cwould be securely clasped down at all times when closed. By this arrangement that great desideratum, a plentiful supply of warm esh air in railroad-cars, is obtained, While danger from re in case of accident is avoided.

One or more of these heaters maybe placed in a car, in any convenient position.

The air-pipe W will pass up through the roof of the car, with the double funnel l? attached to its top, so as that the valves will be controlled and operated by the motion of the car.

Having thus described our invention, We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The described arrangement of the case H, re-box A, combustion-chamber D, hot-air chambers E J, nre-opening B, pipes K L m, perforated pipe F, screen d, Water-chamber z, air-purifying chamber X, and air-supply tube and double funnelW P, as herein, described, for the purpose specified.

2. The hot-air pipe L n and the cap o, in combination with the perforated pipe F and hot-air chambers J E, as herein described, for the purpose specified.

3. The arrangement of the air-purifying chamber X, lined with absorbent material, and containing the curved deiiectors7 with relation to the Water-chamber z,airsupp1y pipe W, and hot-air chamber E, whereby the motion of the car splashes the Water through the perforated bottom of the air-chamber, and saturates the absorbent material for the collection of dust and cinders, as herein sliown and described.

W. S. .MCNEIL O. S. CADWELL, JR.

Witnesses:

WM. F. MCNAMARA, ALEX. F. ROBERTS. 

